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Subject: THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
Title: The New World Order Files
Author: David Allen Rivera
ENDTIME BIBLE STUDY
The ruins of the settlement of Khirbet Qumran stand on a cliff, a mile
away from the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in the Jordan Valley. It
is here, just south of Jericho, and twenty miles east of Jerusalem, that
one of the most important archaeological discoveries in religious
history was made.
Early in 1947, three Bedouin shepherds from the Ta'amireh tribe had
their flock in the area, and while Jum'a Muhammad was looking for a
stray goat, he discovered a cave in the cliffs. He threw a rock into the
hole, and heard the sound of breaking pottery. Two days later, his
cousin, Muhammed Ahmed el-Hamed, returned and crawled into the small
cave, which measured 6 feet by 20 feet. The cave contained many
earthenware jars, about 2 feet high and 10 inches wide. Though many were
broken, 9 were believed to be intact. Inside one of the jars, he
discovered three leather rolls wrapped in linen. In a subsequent visit,
four more leather rolls were discovered. These rolls turned out to be
ancient scrolls, which have been referred to as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A Christian shopkeeper, Khalil Iskander Shahin (known as "Kando"), and
George Ishaya (Isaiah) Shamoun, members of the Syrian Jacobite Church in
Jerusalem, heard about the discovery and went to Qumran to verify the
Bedouin's claims, finding some scroll fragments. They later met with the
three shepherds to examine their findings.
One of the Bedouins sold 3 of the scrolls to the Muslim sheik of
Bethlehem, and Kando purchased the other 4, which consisted of a 22-foot
long scroll containing the entire text of the Book of Isaiah, the
Genesis Apocryphon, the Habakkuk Commentary, and the Manual of
Discipline (also known as the Community Rule), which had split into two.
These 4 were in turn sold to the Syrian Metropolitan (Archbishop)
Athanasius Yeshua Samuel, head of the Syrian Jacobite Church. Samuel
later sent George Isaiah back to Qumran to carry out secret extensive
excavations. It is believed that other scrolls were discovered, the
contents of which have not been revealed.
In September, 1947, Samuel took the four scrolls to Hems, Syria, where
he met with the Patriarch of the Church. During his return trip, he
again sent a team to Qumran.
Samuel got in touch with Professor Eleazar Sukenik of the Hebrew
University's Department of Archaeology in order to have the age of the
scrolls determined. Meanwhile, in November, 1947, Sukenik was contacted
by someone identifying himself only as an Armenian antique dealer, and
he was able to purchase the other three scrolls, which turned out to be
The War of the Sons of Light With the Sons of Darkness (also called The
War Scroll), the Book of Hymns (also known as the Psalm of Thanksgiving
Scroll), and another copy of Isaiah.
In January, 1948,/ /Sukenik received one of Samuel's scrolls, which
turned out to be the Isaiah scroll, which he was able to inspect.
Although he was interested in purchasing the four scrolls, he couldn't
raise the money necessary to make the transaction.
Samuel then contacted the William F. Albright Institute of
Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, where the scrolls were inspected
by John C. Trever and William H. Brownlee, who felt they were as old, if
not older, than the 2nd century Nash Papyrus fragment, which up to then,
was the oldest known example of Biblical Hebrew. A set of prints were
forwarded to Professor William Foxwell Albright at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, Maryland, who was the leading Hebrew
epigraphist in the world. He dated the material back to 100 BC. Upon
examination of all these Hebrew and Aramaic scrolls and fragments which
have been discovered at Qumran, it is generally accepted that they were
written between 250 BC and 68 AD, when the Romans destroyed the Qumran
settlement.
The scrolls were taken to a bank in Beirut, and then in January, 1949,
to a New York City bank vault. Up to 1954, only three of the scrolls had
been published. Samuel, labeled a 'smuggler' was anxious to sell the
scrolls, and would not allow the fourth to be published until all of
them had been purchased.
In February, 1949, Gerald Lankester Harding, director of the Department
of Antiquities for Transjordan and Arab Palestine; and Father Roland de
Vaux, director of the Dominican-controlled Ecole Biblique in the
Jordanian sector of East Jerusalem, went to the cave at Qumran, where
they found the remains of 30 identifiable texts, and a number of
unidentifiable fragments. Harding made it known that he was interested
in all subsequent finds made by the Ta'amireh tribe. They would sell the
results of their excavation to Kando, who would then sell the items to
Harding. Meanwhile, de Vaux, Harding, and a group of fifteen workers
continued to excavate around Qumran until 1956, where they uncovered the
buildings of what they felt were an Essene community.
For nearly two weeks in mid-March, 1952, de Vaux, three members of the
Ecole Biblique, William Reed (director of the Albright Institute), and
24 Bedouins under the supervision of three Jordanian and Palestinian
archaeologists, embarked on an effort to conduct a survey of all the
caves in the area. This survey indicated the existence of 40 caves, and
the umbrella term of the Dead Sea Scrolls refers to the scrolls and
fragments that were found in eleven of the caves.
In September, 1952, in Cave 4, located about 50 feet away from some of
the Qumran ruins, the largest number of scroll fragments were
discovered- the remains of over 500 different scrolls.
By 1959, all the scroll fragments were kept in a room known as the
'Scrollery' in the Rockefeller Museum (formerly known as the Palestine
Archaeological Museum), which had been built with funds provided by John
D. Rockefeller. The Museum was run by an international Board of
Trustees, and later fell under the control of the Jordanian government.
After the Six Day War in June, 1967, when Israel took over control of
the entire city of Jerusalem, the contents of the Museum were considered
spoils of war, so the Israeli government became the guardian of the
fragments.
The Museum contained laboratories, photographic facilities, and the
Department of Antiquities, however, the headquarters of the entire
operation was actually located at the Ecole Biblique, which contained a
research library totally dedicated to Qumran research, which was not
open to the public. They also published two journals, the _Revue
Biblique_, printed since 1892, and the _Revue de Qumran_, started in
1958 to publish information on the scrolls.
This may be one of the keys to understanding what may be going on here
behind the scenes. In 1882, on the site where, according to tradition,
St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr was stoned to death, a French
Dominican monk established a Dominican church and monastery in
Jerusalem. At the urging of Pope Leo XIII, a Biblical school was begun
there in 1890 by Father Albert Lagrange to train scholars with the
knowledge necessary to protect the Church against the potential of
damaging archaeological discoveries. Originally known as the Ecole
Practique d'Etudes Bibliques, it was later renamed the Ecole Biblique et
Archeologique Francaise de Jerusalem.
Lagrange became a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which
had been started by Pope Leo to "monitor" the work of Catholic
scriptural scholarship. In 1956, de Vaux became a consultant to this
Commission until his death in 1971, as did his successors Father Pierre
Benoit, and Jean- Luc Vesco in 1987. The head of the Pontifical Biblical
Commission is Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is also the executive head
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which prior to 1965
had been known as the Holy Office, and prior to 1542, as the Holy
Inquisition. After 1971, with many common members, the two groups were
virtually combined, sharing the same offices at the Palace of the
Congregation at the Holy Office Square in Rome. Because of this
connection, the implication has been made that the Vatican is exerting
its influence over the Scrolls, in order to control what information is
released.
The team that de Vaux chose in 1953, to assemble and translate the
Scrolls were primarily Catholic:
1) Frank Cross: Harvard Professor, of the McCormick Theological
Seminary in Chicago and the Albright Institute in Jerusalem. The only
Protestant on the team.
2) Monsignor Patrick Skehan: From the United States, who was director
of the Albright Institute. He was quoted as saying that the Biblical
scholar should adhere to Church doctrine and "be subject aIways to the
sovereign right of the Holy Mother Church to witness definitively what
is in fact concordant with the teaching she has received from Christ."
When he died in 1980, he was replaced by Professor Eugene Ulrich of
Notre Dame University.
3) Father Jean Starcky: From France, who, after his death, was replaced
by Father Emile Puech of the Ecole Biblique.
4) Dr. Claus-Hunno Hunzinger: From Germany, who was later replaced by a
French priest, Father Maurice Baillet.
5) Father Josef Milik: A priest from Poland.
6) John M. Allegro: A self-proclaimed agnostic from Oxford, who
revealed that certain material was being kept secret because of the
controversial nature, and de Vaux did not want the Church to be
embarrassed. He was replaced by Oxford Professor John Strugnell, who in
1960 became Assistant Professor of Old Testament Studies at Duke
University; and in 1968 became the Professor of Christian Origins at the
Harvard Divinity School.
After de Vaux's death in 1971, his handpicked successor was another
Dominican, Father Pierre Benoit, who became the head of the Ecole
Biblique, and the overseer of the international team, until his death in
1987. Strugnell, who converted to Catholicism, then became the leader of
the team.
As you can see, this small group of Catholic scholars had complete
control of all of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments that were found.
In 1954, Yigael Yadin, the former Chief of Staff for the Israeli
Defense Forces, who taught Archaeology at Hebrew University, purchased
Samuel's four scrolls for $250,000. Ironically, he was the son of
Professor Sukenik. These four scrolls, and the three purchased by his
father were then housed in a building known as the Shrine of the Book.
While the Israelis worked on these scrolls, across town at the
Rockefeller Museum, de Vaux and his group of international scholars were
working on the fragments they discovered.
In 1967, Yadin interrogated Kando, who subsequently relinquished
possession of a scroll he had for six years, which had been found in
Cave 11. Known as the Temple Scroll, at 27 feet, it is the longest
scroll, and has been dated between 150-125 BC. It has references to the
building of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the rituals to be performed
there, however, because of the laws found in it in regard to general
matters, and quotes from the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible,
known as the Torah of Moses), it has been referred to as the Sixth Book
of the Law, and may contain the information referred to in 1 Chronicles
28:11-19 and 1 Samuel 8:11.
The Pentateuch was compiled by Ezra (Ezra 7:14) about 458 BC, and it is
believed that what was edited out, became part of the Temple Scroll.
Five separate sources were compiled to form the Temple Scroll, and it is
now considered a supplement to the Torah. In addition to the content,
another reason that it is considered a Biblical text, is that in all
established Biblical books, the name of God, YHWH (Yahweh), is written
in the square Aramaic script like the rest of the text; while in
non-Biblical writings, the name is written in Palaeo-Hebrew, while the
rest of the text is in Aramaic.
The goal of de Vaux's international team was for the Oxford University
Press to publish all Qumran scrolls by 1962 in a series called the
_Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan_. That didn't happen. The
first, in 1955, contained the fragments found in the original cave,
known as Cave 1. In 1961, the second volume appeared, however it
contained material discovered in the four caves of Wadi Murabba'at,
eleven miles south of Qumran, and was dated from 70-135 AD. This find
included the Hebrew versions of all the minor prophets, including Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi. In 1963, the third volume was published,
containing fragments from Cave 2, Cave 3, and Caves 5 - 10; including
the Copper Scroll found in Cave 3, and fragments from two copies of The
Book of Jubilees, a copy of which was later found at Masada. Some
researchers believe that the Copper scroll should be put in a different
category, and separated from the other texts that have been found,
because it is the only document that was recorded on metal, it was
written in a different variation of Hebrew, and was discovered in an
isolated section of the cave; which could indicate a different origin.
The fourth volume, in 1965, was a collection of Psalms found in Cave 11.
The fifth volume, in 1968, under the direction of Allegro, contained
some material from Cave 4, however, most of the scrolls from this cave
continued to be withheld from the public, even though Allegro had said
in 1964 that the compilation and translation had been nearly completed
by 1961. The sixth installment of the series appeared in 1977, the
seventh in 1982, and the eighth, which didn't even deal with the texts
of Qumran, was released in 1990.
These eight volumes are said to represent only 25% of the information
contained in the Scrolls, even though Father Benoit had said in
December, 1985, that everything would be published by 1993. Strugnell
would later set a deadline of 1996.
Edmund Wilson, author of _The Scrolls of the Dead Sea_, said in 1955
that de Vaux's team wanted to isolate the sectarian non-Biblical scrolls
from being connected with Christianity and Judaism, and concentrated
only on the Biblical literature. In 1956, tired of de Vaux's attempts to
prevent the Scrolls from being linked to Christianity, John Allegro was
a guest on a series of three radio shows in northern England, the third
of which resulted in a _New York Times_ article which said: "The origins
of some Christian ritual and doctrines can be seen in the documents of
an extremist Jewish sect that existed for more than 100 years before the
birth of Jesus Christ. This is the interpretation placed on the
'fabulous' collection of Dead Sea Scrolls by one of an international
team of seven scholars...John Allegro...(who) said last night in a
broadcast that the historical basis of the Lord's Supper and part at
least of the Lord's prayer and the New Testament teaching of Jesus were
attributable to the Qumranians."
In 1987, he quit, calling the team's delays "inexcusable," saying that
for years they had been "sitting on material which is not only of
outstanding importance, but also quite the most religiously sensitive."
He died in 1988.
Robert Eisenman, a former Research Fellow at the Albright Institute,
who was a Professor of Middle East Religions and Chairman of Religious
Studies at California State University at Long Beach, was denied access
to photographs of the Scroll fragments by Strugnell. In 1989, he said
publicly, that during the last 40 years, all of the research on the Dead
Sea Scrolls was controlled by a handful of scholars who had revealed
only a small portion. He called for access to the Scrolls by qualified
scholars, and for AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy) Carbon-14 dating
to be performed on the documents to verify the dating, which up to that
point had been relying on the original, obsolete form of dating, which
had been done shortly after their discovery.
In April, 1989, the Israeli Archaeological Council created a Scroll
Oversight Committee to oversee the publication of all Qumran texts, and
to make sure the international team completed their assignments, and in
July, 1989, Amir Drori, Director of the Israeli Department of
Antiquities, a member of that Committee, told the _Los Angeles Times_,
that "if someone does not complete his work on time we have the right to
deliver the scrolls to someone else."
After the Israeli government took full possession of Jerusalem in June
of 1967, many were surprised that de Vaux was allowed to continue in his
capacity as the leader of the team of scholars, even though it was a
known fact that he was anti-Semitic, which was why he would not allow
any Jewish scholars into the project. In the mid-1980's, Strugnell
brought in Israeli scholar Elisha Qimron; Talmud scholar Jacob Sussman;
Devorah Dimant of Haifa University; and Emmanuel Tov, Shemaryahu Talmon,
Joseph Baumgarten, and Jonas Greenfield, of Baltimore's Hebrew
University, to work on some unpublished text.
In November, 1990, without informing Strugnell, the Israeli government
assigned Emmanuel Tov to become the 'joint editor-in-chief' of the
project to finish the translation and publication of the Scrolls. Then,
in December, 1990, the _New York Times_ quoted from an October 28, 1990
interview Strugnell had with the Israeli paper _Ha-Aretz_, where he said
that Judaism was a "horrible religion." a "racist" religion, and that
Israel was "founded on a lie." Magen Broshi, curator of Jerusalem's
Shrine of the Book, said "We've known for twenty years that he was an
anti-Semite." On another occasion, he referred to Strugnell's "rabid
anti-Semitism." These anti-Semitic comments resulted in him being
dismissed from the project as editor-in-chief, even though he still
controlled his portion of the texts. Tov became chief editor, along with
Professor Eugene Ulrich and Emile Puech.
In September, 1991, Professor Ben-Zion Wacholder, and one of his
doctoral students, Martin G. Abegg, from Hebrew Union College in
Cincinnati, Ohio, released their compilation of the Qumran texts, which
was published by the Biblical Archaeological Society. In 1988, Strugnell
had printed 30 copies of a 52,000 word concordance of words found in the
scroll, which had been created by de Vaux's team in the 1950's, so it
could be used by the team. Wacholder and Abegg used a computer to
reconstruct these words, and it was purported to be 80% accurate. Later
that month, the Huntington Library in San Marine, California revealed
that it had a complete set of negatives, from photographs of
photographs, of the original scrolls, which had been given to them in
1987 by Elizabeth Hay Bechtel of the Bechtel Corp. who had founded the
Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center in Claremont, California (who also
had a copy). They made microfilm copies available to any scholar who
requested it. The Hebrew Union College also have a partial set; and the
Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies in England has a full set,
which had been given to them in May, 1991, by the Israeli Oversight
Committee.
The Qumran texts, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, are believed to have
been written between 250 BC and 68 AD. They have been divided into two
groups - Biblical and non-Biblical. About 20% are Biblical. Copies of
every book in the Hebrew Bible have been found, except for Esther
(which, coincidentally, was the only book that didn't mention the name
of God). In Cave 4, one of the most complete manuscripts which they have
been able to reconstruct, is the First Book of Samuel, which was found
to contain passages not found in our Bible, and is being used to fill in
some of the narrative gaps. The non-Biblical fragments consists of hymns
and psalms, biblical commentaries, legal documents, a letter, apocryphal
writings, and an inventory of the Temple treasure. Of the non-Biblical,
there are texts referred to as sectarian writings, which were produced
by a unique sect of Jews who have been identified as the Essenes.
The seven intact scrolls that were found in Cave 1, were quickly
published by Israeli and American scholars, but the fragments collected
by de Vaux were a different story. Just in Cave 4, there was believed to
be well over 15,000 fragments (and perhaps as many as 100,000) from 500
different manuscripts. In all, the find was said to represent about 800
manuscripts. Of the Biblical writings, 25 copies of Deuteronomy were
found, 18 copies of Isaiah, and 27 copies of the Psalter. Among the
non-Biblical, 11 copies of the Community Rule, 9 Songs of the Sabbath
Sacrifice, 8 of the Thanksgiving Hymn, and 7 of the Sons of Light
Against the Sons of Darkness.
Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, the oldest known Old Testament
texts, were copies which dated back to 1100 AD, yet they were nearly
identical. Originally, only the linen surrounding the scrolls were
tested with the Carbon-14 dating process , which indicated a date around
the 2nd century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD. In 1991, new
tests by a Swiss laboratory confirmed these results. A palaeographical
analysis was done on the script used in writing the texts which revealed
a similarity to styles that were used from 250 - 150 BC, 150 - 30 BC,
and 30 BC - 70 AD. Archaeological dating was also done with the help of
several hundred coins which were found in the Qumran complex. The
earliest structures were built between 130 - 110 BC, then rebuilt and
enlarged from 110- 40 BC. They discovered evidence of an earthquake
which had been recorded as occurring in 31 BC, after which they rebuilt
the settlement and occupied it until 68 AD when it was destroyed by
Vespasian's Roman legions.
During the Maccabean period, in the 2nd century BC, there were three
main Jewish groups, the Pharisees, the Sadduccees, and the Essenes. The
Essenes were known to be the "strict" Order. Early historians, such as
Pliny the Elder (the 1st century Roman writer), Josephus, and Philo,
indicated that the Essenes lived in the area between Jericho and Ein
Gedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea, which is where the Qumran ruins are
located.
The Sadducees, whose religious principles differed from the Pharisees,
separated from them after the Maccabean revolt (168-164 BC). A document
identified as Miqsat Ma'aseh he-Torah, or "Some Rulings Pertaining to
the Torah"(also known as the Halakhic Letter), which was found in Cave
4, contains about 22 religious laws, and appears to be the basis of the
Qumran philosophy. Discovered in 1952, its contents weren't revealed
until 1984, and it has lead some researchers to believe that the Qumran
group seceded from the established religious center in Jerusalem, and
became the group known as the Essenes. Yet the Essene name is never used.
How this break occurred is not really known. According to one theory,
when Judea, under Judas Maccabeus, revolted in 165 BC against the Syrian
tyrant King Antiochus IV, thus beginning the Hasmonean line of Kings
with Judas (165-160 BC), his brother Jonathan (160-143 BC), then his
brother Simon (143-134 BC), maintained a friendly relationship with
Rome; and in 152 BC when Jonathan made himself the High Priest, this
upset the hardline Jews who chose to follow a man they referred to as
the "Teacher of Righteousness," who was of the Zadokite (who were
descendants of the priestly line of Aaron) line. They went to the desert
where they could observe the laws of God.
A document found at Qumran was an earlier version of the Damascus
Document, which was discovered (2 copies) in a Cairo synagogue in 1896.
Dated between 80 - 75 BC, a copy was found in Cave 6, and 7 copies in
Cave 4. The fragments recovered at Qumran have proven the Cairo text to
be incomplete. The text refers to a contingent of Jews that remained
faithful to the Law. A 'Teacher of Righteousness' came to them, and led
them into Damascus so they could renew their 'Covenant' with God. This
Covenant is referred to in the Community Rule. It is believed that there
was an Essene community in Damascus. In the book of the Acts of the
Apostles, Saul was going to Damascus to persecute these early Christians.
Another theory says that after the destruction of the First Temple in
586 BC, when the Jews were exiled to Babylon, the Essenes were formed as
a strict Order because they believed they were being punished by God for
their disobedience. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the
Maccabean victories, they became disenchanted and went to Qumran.
It was believed that the Essenes were a pacifist, monastic Order who
wanted to separate themseIves from the revolutionary-minded Zealots, yet
some of the evidence seems to indicate otherwise. Originally thought to
have been celibate, the graves of two women and a child were discovered;
plus the Community Rule contained marriage laws. The Essenes did not
engage in animal sacrifice, yet the Temple Scroll contains instructions
for such rituals, and animal bones have been found. Thought to have been
peaceful, their scrolls seem to indicate the knowledge of military
strategy; and the ruins of a military defense tower and a forge have
been excavated. Several manuscripts from Qumran, were also found at the
Zealot stronghold on Masada, and there has been some researchers who
believe that there was a connection between the two groups.
While de Vaux and his team were trying to distance the Scrolls from
Judaism and Christianity, saying there were no connections, the texts
which were already published seem to indicate otherwise. Either the
early Christians were just living at the Qumran community, or the early
Christians and the Qumran community were one, and the same. Though
Essene in nature, the group in Qumran has been compared to the early
Church, which was based in Jerusalem. The Habakkuk Commentary said that
Qumran's governing body, the Council of the Community, was in Jerusalem.
In fact, it is believed that the scrolls were taken to Qumran from
Jerusalem for protection. Professor Norman Golb of the University of
Chicago has theorized that the Scrolls were from the library of the
Jewish Temple, and taken to Qumran, a military installation, during the
first Jewish revolt to keep them safe. The vital link for this belief
comes from the Copper scroll, which lists 64/ /locations of hidden
Temple treasure. This seems to indicate that perhaps the Qumran
settlement was a retreat for the early Christians. But wait,
"Christians" before Christ? This is one of the controversial
developments that has emerged from the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The New Testament was written in Greek, and Jesus spoke in Aramaic. The
Qumran texts are written in Hebrew, and sometimes Aramaic, and has been
shown to contain information that is echoed in the New Testament. Prior
to the discovery of the Scrolls, the teachings of Jesus had been
considered as original, though influenced by Old Testament teaching.
However, the Qumran documents now indicate the existence of a basis for
his message. The Community Rule, which was discovered in Cave 1, has
proven to be one of the most important discoveries in Qumran. It is a
record of the rules and regulations of the Qumran community, where all
must make a "Covenant before God to obey all his commandments." One of
the basic tenets of Christianity, the baptism of purification, is
discussed. It says that the convert "shall be cleansed from all his sins
by the spirit of holiness uniting him to its truth...And when his flesh
is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it
shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the
precepts of God." This has led to the theory that John the Baptist had
lived at Qumran until he was called by God to be the forerunner of Jesus.
In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:44-46), it says: "And all that
believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had
need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple..." This
shows that common ownership was part of the early Christian philosophy.
The Community Rule stated: "All...shall bring all their knowledge,
powers and possessions into the Community..."; "They shall eat in common
and pray in common..."; and "...his property shall be merged and he
shall offer his counsel and judgment to the Community."
Also in Acts, the Church leadership is shown to be made up of twelve
Apostles, which according to Galatians, were led by James (the brother
of Jesus), John and Peter. In the Community Rule, the Qumran group were
governed by a 'Council' of twelve people, with three priests that were
in leadership roles, though it is not known if they were part of the
twelve.
It also talks about a 'Meal of the Congregation' which is a ritual very
much like the 'Last Supper' and the subsequent communion ceremony; while
other documents contain parallels with the Sermon on the Mount, and the
concept of the battle between the darkness and the light.
The Qumran texts contain references to a messianic figure known as the
"Teacher of Righteousness," which some have tried to identify as being
Jesus, however, there are no references as to the divinity of this
person, so it couldn't be Jesus. In addition, because of the age of the
document, this person would have been living well before the time of
Christ. However, recently released fragments do elude to Jesus. An
unpublished Aramaic scroll fragment out of Cave 4, mention the "Son of
God" and the "Son of the Most High," in a similar manner as Luke 1:32,
35. It is the first time these references have appeared in any outside
text. Newly released fragments out of Cave 4 even prophecy the coming
the coming of Jesus, as the Messiah. Fragment 4Q285 said that "A staff
shall rise from the root of Jesse...the Branch of David...and they will
put to death the Leader of the Community."; and fragment 4Q521 said:
"The Heavens and the earth will obey his Messiah...He will not turn
aside from the Commandments of the Holy Ones...For the Lord will visit
the Pious Ones and the Righteous will call by name...He shall release
the captives, make the blind to see, raise up the downtrodden...He will
heal the sick, resurrect the dead, and to the Meek announce glad tidings."
Much has been made about this small group of men, who for forty years
had been silent about the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls which were in
their possession. As emissaries of the Catholic Church, was it because
the Scrolls are contrary to the Bible in respect to the origin of
Christianity, or was it, as some maintain, because of the power it gave
them. I think it may have more to do with the implications concerning
Christianity.
As we discussed in the previous section, those who have tried to prove
that Jesus faked his crucifixion, have also tried to link him with the
Essenes. Even though the Scrolls themselves indicate that the
inhabitants of Qumran engaged in the study of astrology and mysticism,
this group has been identified as the starting point for the philosophy
which became Christianity. If we are to believe the Scrolls, the
teachings of Jesus were based on the philosophy of the Essenes. This
seriously damages His image as being the father of a Religion that bears
His name. Not only that, but it further diminishes his divinity, which
has increasingly come under attack.
During the next few years, the last remnants of the Scrolls will be
published, and in the near future, new versions of the Bible may be
produced which will reflect the "new" information gleaned from the
Scrolls. These new versions may further contribute to the taking of
Christ out of Christianity, so that the role of Jesus is reduced to that
of a political visionary.
Since I believe that Jesus taught only what was given unto Him through
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what legitimacy should be given to
the Dead Sea Scrolls, if any.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, they are legitimate documents, and not the
result of an incredible forgery, as far as being done shortly before
their discovery. Therefore, we have to look in another direction. Now
that other scholars have access to them, any incorrect translations
would be revised. Which brings us to the reconstruction of the fragments
themselves. We have been forced to rely on the accuracy of de Vaux's
team, and their ability to fit these pieces together into some sort of
coherency. It would seem that gaps in the assembled fragments of text,
would make it difficult to actually grasp its full meaning, especially
since missing words may have a bearing on how other words are
translated. The complex techniques utilized in this process have brought
very little criticism in regard to its accuracy.
So that leaves us with only one other point of contention. Can we trust
the procedure used the date the Scrolls. Carbon-14 dating has long been
criticized as being inaccurate. Originally only the wrapping around them
were tested, because they didn't want to destroy any text in order to
date them. However, new techniques need less material to achieve the
same results. But remember, what is being dated is the material that was
written on. If a fragment was dated back to 200 BC, there is no way of
knowing whether it was actually written on at that time, or maybe 300
years later. This knowledge makes it difficult to assume the accuracy of
any dating.
We must also take into account, whether or not a document is describing
actual events, or if it is just plain fiction. For example, it is
commonly accepted that some apocryphal books such as Tobit, and Bel and
the Dragon were works of fiction, and for that reason were not included
in the Bible. Many apocryphal writings were found at Qumran. When it
comes to analyzing the contents of a text, how do you decide that it is
a historically accurate document, if you don't know the intention of the
writer, or even who the writer was. Just as the writers of the Gospels
have been accused of embellishment, do some of the Qumran texts contain
the same sort of embellishments.
Because of the secrecy surrounding the Scrolls, how will we really know
that all of the fragments found, will be released. It was said that some
fragments had been taken to the Ecole Biblique. Were they ever returned
to the Rockefeller Museum. I guess, what I am thinking here, is that if
they had discovered something that would have shaken the very foundation
of the Christian Church, would the Scroll team have allowed it to
remain, or would it have found its way into the dark recesses of the
Vatican, never again to see the light of day, or perhaps only locked
away for a short time, to be released when the time is right.
Or how about the existence of other scrolls that haven't made its way
into official hands. Strugnell revealed the existence of four other
scrolls from Cave 11. Of the two he saw, one was a complete copy of the
Book of Enoch. On his deathbed, Lankester Harding, the director of
Jordan's Department of Antiquities, claimed to have seen two more
scrolls that Strugnell had not seen. All four are located in Jordan.
Stories have also circulated about Bedouin discoveries which were not
given to de Vaux, and have yet to surface.
It seems that the world hasn't heard the last of Qumran, because
archaeologists Dr. Gary Collett and Dr. Aubry L. Richardson, using
sophisticated equipment developed by NASA (which can sense nonvisible
elements of the electromagnetic spectrum and interpret the type of
molecules found in its makeup), claim that there are still unexplored
caves there, including one which may contain up to 40/ /intact jars, of
the kind used to store manuscripts, and evidence of another copper
scroll. A dig was initiated, sanctioned by the Israeli government, to
reach this cave, which have not, as yet, turned up anything.
My feeling is, that we haven't been able to produce enough
substantiation from the Scrolls to make the kind of claims that have
been made. For example, various books in the Bible contain the same
information, and are used to cross reference each other. That wasn't
possible with the Scrolls, and because of that, they may never be fully
accepted. The fact that some of their rituals are similar to the early
Christian Church, may be nothing more than natural progression- or
theological evolution.
Because of further archaeological excavation, we may continue to get a
steady flow of information from Qumran for years to come, and how it
will affect the perception of Christianity is yet to be seen. All we can
do, is to evaluate what is available now, and how some of the
questionable texts may be use to manipulate religion in this country.
It would be nice to know how much influence the Rockefeller family has
on the Rockefeller Museum, where all the fragments were housed. Their
name also figures prominently in the talk concerning the rebuilding of
the Jewish Temple. Knowing that they have had a huge role in
establishing the New World Order, their involvement in the various
affairs of Israel has ominous overtones.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"A new partnership of nations has begun. We stand today at a unique
and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave
as it is, offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic
period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth
objective - a New World Order - can emerge...When we are successful,
and we will be, we have a real chance at this New World Order,
an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping
role to fulfill the promise and vision of the United Nations' founders."
--- George Bush
September 11, 1990 televised address to a joint session of Congress
Subject: THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
Title: The New World Order Files
Author: David Allen Rivera
ENDTIME BIBLE STUDY
The ruins of the settlement of Khirbet Qumran stand on a cliff, a mile
away from the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, in the Jordan Valley. It
is here, just south of Jericho, and twenty miles east of Jerusalem, that
one of the most important archaeological discoveries in religious
history was made.
Early in 1947, three Bedouin shepherds from the Ta'amireh tribe had
their flock in the area, and while Jum'a Muhammad was looking for a
stray goat, he discovered a cave in the cliffs. He threw a rock into the
hole, and heard the sound of breaking pottery. Two days later, his
cousin, Muhammed Ahmed el-Hamed, returned and crawled into the small
cave, which measured 6 feet by 20 feet. The cave contained many
earthenware jars, about 2 feet high and 10 inches wide. Though many were
broken, 9 were believed to be intact. Inside one of the jars, he
discovered three leather rolls wrapped in linen. In a subsequent visit,
four more leather rolls were discovered. These rolls turned out to be
ancient scrolls, which have been referred to as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
A Christian shopkeeper, Khalil Iskander Shahin (known as "Kando"), and
George Ishaya (Isaiah) Shamoun, members of the Syrian Jacobite Church in
Jerusalem, heard about the discovery and went to Qumran to verify the
Bedouin's claims, finding some scroll fragments. They later met with the
three shepherds to examine their findings.
One of the Bedouins sold 3 of the scrolls to the Muslim sheik of
Bethlehem, and Kando purchased the other 4, which consisted of a 22-foot
long scroll containing the entire text of the Book of Isaiah, the
Genesis Apocryphon, the Habakkuk Commentary, and the Manual of
Discipline (also known as the Community Rule), which had split into two.
These 4 were in turn sold to the Syrian Metropolitan (Archbishop)
Athanasius Yeshua Samuel, head of the Syrian Jacobite Church. Samuel
later sent George Isaiah back to Qumran to carry out secret extensive
excavations. It is believed that other scrolls were discovered, the
contents of which have not been revealed.
In September, 1947, Samuel took the four scrolls to Hems, Syria, where
he met with the Patriarch of the Church. During his return trip, he
again sent a team to Qumran.
Samuel got in touch with Professor Eleazar Sukenik of the Hebrew
University's Department of Archaeology in order to have the age of the
scrolls determined. Meanwhile, in November, 1947, Sukenik was contacted
by someone identifying himself only as an Armenian antique dealer, and
he was able to purchase the other three scrolls, which turned out to be
The War of the Sons of Light With the Sons of Darkness (also called The
War Scroll), the Book of Hymns (also known as the Psalm of Thanksgiving
Scroll), and another copy of Isaiah.
In January, 1948,/ /Sukenik received one of Samuel's scrolls, which
turned out to be the Isaiah scroll, which he was able to inspect.
Although he was interested in purchasing the four scrolls, he couldn't
raise the money necessary to make the transaction.
Samuel then contacted the William F. Albright Institute of
Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, where the scrolls were inspected
by John C. Trever and William H. Brownlee, who felt they were as old, if
not older, than the 2nd century Nash Papyrus fragment, which up to then,
was the oldest known example of Biblical Hebrew. A set of prints were
forwarded to Professor William Foxwell Albright at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, Maryland, who was the leading Hebrew
epigraphist in the world. He dated the material back to 100 BC. Upon
examination of all these Hebrew and Aramaic scrolls and fragments which
have been discovered at Qumran, it is generally accepted that they were
written between 250 BC and 68 AD, when the Romans destroyed the Qumran
settlement.
The scrolls were taken to a bank in Beirut, and then in January, 1949,
to a New York City bank vault. Up to 1954, only three of the scrolls had
been published. Samuel, labeled a 'smuggler' was anxious to sell the
scrolls, and would not allow the fourth to be published until all of
them had been purchased.
In February, 1949, Gerald Lankester Harding, director of the Department
of Antiquities for Transjordan and Arab Palestine; and Father Roland de
Vaux, director of the Dominican-controlled Ecole Biblique in the
Jordanian sector of East Jerusalem, went to the cave at Qumran, where
they found the remains of 30 identifiable texts, and a number of
unidentifiable fragments. Harding made it known that he was interested
in all subsequent finds made by the Ta'amireh tribe. They would sell the
results of their excavation to Kando, who would then sell the items to
Harding. Meanwhile, de Vaux, Harding, and a group of fifteen workers
continued to excavate around Qumran until 1956, where they uncovered the
buildings of what they felt were an Essene community.
For nearly two weeks in mid-March, 1952, de Vaux, three members of the
Ecole Biblique, William Reed (director of the Albright Institute), and
24 Bedouins under the supervision of three Jordanian and Palestinian
archaeologists, embarked on an effort to conduct a survey of all the
caves in the area. This survey indicated the existence of 40 caves, and
the umbrella term of the Dead Sea Scrolls refers to the scrolls and
fragments that were found in eleven of the caves.
In September, 1952, in Cave 4, located about 50 feet away from some of
the Qumran ruins, the largest number of scroll fragments were
discovered- the remains of over 500 different scrolls.
By 1959, all the scroll fragments were kept in a room known as the
'Scrollery' in the Rockefeller Museum (formerly known as the Palestine
Archaeological Museum), which had been built with funds provided by John
D. Rockefeller. The Museum was run by an international Board of
Trustees, and later fell under the control of the Jordanian government.
After the Six Day War in June, 1967, when Israel took over control of
the entire city of Jerusalem, the contents of the Museum were considered
spoils of war, so the Israeli government became the guardian of the
fragments.
The Museum contained laboratories, photographic facilities, and the
Department of Antiquities, however, the headquarters of the entire
operation was actually located at the Ecole Biblique, which contained a
research library totally dedicated to Qumran research, which was not
open to the public. They also published two journals, the _Revue
Biblique_, printed since 1892, and the _Revue de Qumran_, started in
1958 to publish information on the scrolls.
This may be one of the keys to understanding what may be going on here
behind the scenes. In 1882, on the site where, according to tradition,
St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr was stoned to death, a French
Dominican monk established a Dominican church and monastery in
Jerusalem. At the urging of Pope Leo XIII, a Biblical school was begun
there in 1890 by Father Albert Lagrange to train scholars with the
knowledge necessary to protect the Church against the potential of
damaging archaeological discoveries. Originally known as the Ecole
Practique d'Etudes Bibliques, it was later renamed the Ecole Biblique et
Archeologique Francaise de Jerusalem.
Lagrange became a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which
had been started by Pope Leo to "monitor" the work of Catholic
scriptural scholarship. In 1956, de Vaux became a consultant to this
Commission until his death in 1971, as did his successors Father Pierre
Benoit, and Jean- Luc Vesco in 1987. The head of the Pontifical Biblical
Commission is Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is also the executive head
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which prior to 1965
had been known as the Holy Office, and prior to 1542, as the Holy
Inquisition. After 1971, with many common members, the two groups were
virtually combined, sharing the same offices at the Palace of the
Congregation at the Holy Office Square in Rome. Because of this
connection, the implication has been made that the Vatican is exerting
its influence over the Scrolls, in order to control what information is
released.
The team that de Vaux chose in 1953, to assemble and translate the
Scrolls were primarily Catholic:
1) Frank Cross: Harvard Professor, of the McCormick Theological
Seminary in Chicago and the Albright Institute in Jerusalem. The only
Protestant on the team.
2) Monsignor Patrick Skehan: From the United States, who was director
of the Albright Institute. He was quoted as saying that the Biblical
scholar should adhere to Church doctrine and "be subject aIways to the
sovereign right of the Holy Mother Church to witness definitively what
is in fact concordant with the teaching she has received from Christ."
When he died in 1980, he was replaced by Professor Eugene Ulrich of
Notre Dame University.
3) Father Jean Starcky: From France, who, after his death, was replaced
by Father Emile Puech of the Ecole Biblique.
4) Dr. Claus-Hunno Hunzinger: From Germany, who was later replaced by a
French priest, Father Maurice Baillet.
5) Father Josef Milik: A priest from Poland.
6) John M. Allegro: A self-proclaimed agnostic from Oxford, who
revealed that certain material was being kept secret because of the
controversial nature, and de Vaux did not want the Church to be
embarrassed. He was replaced by Oxford Professor John Strugnell, who in
1960 became Assistant Professor of Old Testament Studies at Duke
University; and in 1968 became the Professor of Christian Origins at the
Harvard Divinity School.
After de Vaux's death in 1971, his handpicked successor was another
Dominican, Father Pierre Benoit, who became the head of the Ecole
Biblique, and the overseer of the international team, until his death in
1987. Strugnell, who converted to Catholicism, then became the leader of
the team.
As you can see, this small group of Catholic scholars had complete
control of all of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments that were found.
In 1954, Yigael Yadin, the former Chief of Staff for the Israeli
Defense Forces, who taught Archaeology at Hebrew University, purchased
Samuel's four scrolls for $250,000. Ironically, he was the son of
Professor Sukenik. These four scrolls, and the three purchased by his
father were then housed in a building known as the Shrine of the Book.
While the Israelis worked on these scrolls, across town at the
Rockefeller Museum, de Vaux and his group of international scholars were
working on the fragments they discovered.
In 1967, Yadin interrogated Kando, who subsequently relinquished
possession of a scroll he had for six years, which had been found in
Cave 11. Known as the Temple Scroll, at 27 feet, it is the longest
scroll, and has been dated between 150-125 BC. It has references to the
building of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the rituals to be performed
there, however, because of the laws found in it in regard to general
matters, and quotes from the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible,
known as the Torah of Moses), it has been referred to as the Sixth Book
of the Law, and may contain the information referred to in 1 Chronicles
28:11-19 and 1 Samuel 8:11.
The Pentateuch was compiled by Ezra (Ezra 7:14) about 458 BC, and it is
believed that what was edited out, became part of the Temple Scroll.
Five separate sources were compiled to form the Temple Scroll, and it is
now considered a supplement to the Torah. In addition to the content,
another reason that it is considered a Biblical text, is that in all
established Biblical books, the name of God, YHWH (Yahweh), is written
in the square Aramaic script like the rest of the text; while in
non-Biblical writings, the name is written in Palaeo-Hebrew, while the
rest of the text is in Aramaic.
The goal of de Vaux's international team was for the Oxford University
Press to publish all Qumran scrolls by 1962 in a series called the
_Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan_. That didn't happen. The
first, in 1955, contained the fragments found in the original cave,
known as Cave 1. In 1961, the second volume appeared, however it
contained material discovered in the four caves of Wadi Murabba'at,
eleven miles south of Qumran, and was dated from 70-135 AD. This find
included the Hebrew versions of all the minor prophets, including Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi. In 1963, the third volume was published,
containing fragments from Cave 2, Cave 3, and Caves 5 - 10; including
the Copper Scroll found in Cave 3, and fragments from two copies of The
Book of Jubilees, a copy of which was later found at Masada. Some
researchers believe that the Copper scroll should be put in a different
category, and separated from the other texts that have been found,
because it is the only document that was recorded on metal, it was
written in a different variation of Hebrew, and was discovered in an
isolated section of the cave; which could indicate a different origin.
The fourth volume, in 1965, was a collection of Psalms found in Cave 11.
The fifth volume, in 1968, under the direction of Allegro, contained
some material from Cave 4, however, most of the scrolls from this cave
continued to be withheld from the public, even though Allegro had said
in 1964 that the compilation and translation had been nearly completed
by 1961. The sixth installment of the series appeared in 1977, the
seventh in 1982, and the eighth, which didn't even deal with the texts
of Qumran, was released in 1990.
These eight volumes are said to represent only 25% of the information
contained in the Scrolls, even though Father Benoit had said in
December, 1985, that everything would be published by 1993. Strugnell
would later set a deadline of 1996.
Edmund Wilson, author of _The Scrolls of the Dead Sea_, said in 1955
that de Vaux's team wanted to isolate the sectarian non-Biblical scrolls
from being connected with Christianity and Judaism, and concentrated
only on the Biblical literature. In 1956, tired of de Vaux's attempts to
prevent the Scrolls from being linked to Christianity, John Allegro was
a guest on a series of three radio shows in northern England, the third
of which resulted in a _New York Times_ article which said: "The origins
of some Christian ritual and doctrines can be seen in the documents of
an extremist Jewish sect that existed for more than 100 years before the
birth of Jesus Christ. This is the interpretation placed on the
'fabulous' collection of Dead Sea Scrolls by one of an international
team of seven scholars...John Allegro...(who) said last night in a
broadcast that the historical basis of the Lord's Supper and part at
least of the Lord's prayer and the New Testament teaching of Jesus were
attributable to the Qumranians."
In 1987, he quit, calling the team's delays "inexcusable," saying that
for years they had been "sitting on material which is not only of
outstanding importance, but also quite the most religiously sensitive."
He died in 1988.
Robert Eisenman, a former Research Fellow at the Albright Institute,
who was a Professor of Middle East Religions and Chairman of Religious
Studies at California State University at Long Beach, was denied access
to photographs of the Scroll fragments by Strugnell. In 1989, he said
publicly, that during the last 40 years, all of the research on the Dead
Sea Scrolls was controlled by a handful of scholars who had revealed
only a small portion. He called for access to the Scrolls by qualified
scholars, and for AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy) Carbon-14 dating
to be performed on the documents to verify the dating, which up to that
point had been relying on the original, obsolete form of dating, which
had been done shortly after their discovery.
In April, 1989, the Israeli Archaeological Council created a Scroll
Oversight Committee to oversee the publication of all Qumran texts, and
to make sure the international team completed their assignments, and in
July, 1989, Amir Drori, Director of the Israeli Department of
Antiquities, a member of that Committee, told the _Los Angeles Times_,
that "if someone does not complete his work on time we have the right to
deliver the scrolls to someone else."
After the Israeli government took full possession of Jerusalem in June
of 1967, many were surprised that de Vaux was allowed to continue in his
capacity as the leader of the team of scholars, even though it was a
known fact that he was anti-Semitic, which was why he would not allow
any Jewish scholars into the project. In the mid-1980's, Strugnell
brought in Israeli scholar Elisha Qimron; Talmud scholar Jacob Sussman;
Devorah Dimant of Haifa University; and Emmanuel Tov, Shemaryahu Talmon,
Joseph Baumgarten, and Jonas Greenfield, of Baltimore's Hebrew
University, to work on some unpublished text.
In November, 1990, without informing Strugnell, the Israeli government
assigned Emmanuel Tov to become the 'joint editor-in-chief' of the
project to finish the translation and publication of the Scrolls. Then,
in December, 1990, the _New York Times_ quoted from an October 28, 1990
interview Strugnell had with the Israeli paper _Ha-Aretz_, where he said
that Judaism was a "horrible religion." a "racist" religion, and that
Israel was "founded on a lie." Magen Broshi, curator of Jerusalem's
Shrine of the Book, said "We've known for twenty years that he was an
anti-Semite." On another occasion, he referred to Strugnell's "rabid
anti-Semitism." These anti-Semitic comments resulted in him being
dismissed from the project as editor-in-chief, even though he still
controlled his portion of the texts. Tov became chief editor, along with
Professor Eugene Ulrich and Emile Puech.
In September, 1991, Professor Ben-Zion Wacholder, and one of his
doctoral students, Martin G. Abegg, from Hebrew Union College in
Cincinnati, Ohio, released their compilation of the Qumran texts, which
was published by the Biblical Archaeological Society. In 1988, Strugnell
had printed 30 copies of a 52,000 word concordance of words found in the
scroll, which had been created by de Vaux's team in the 1950's, so it
could be used by the team. Wacholder and Abegg used a computer to
reconstruct these words, and it was purported to be 80% accurate. Later
that month, the Huntington Library in San Marine, California revealed
that it had a complete set of negatives, from photographs of
photographs, of the original scrolls, which had been given to them in
1987 by Elizabeth Hay Bechtel of the Bechtel Corp. who had founded the
Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center in Claremont, California (who also
had a copy). They made microfilm copies available to any scholar who
requested it. The Hebrew Union College also have a partial set; and the
Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies in England has a full set,
which had been given to them in May, 1991, by the Israeli Oversight
Committee.
The Qumran texts, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, are believed to have
been written between 250 BC and 68 AD. They have been divided into two
groups - Biblical and non-Biblical. About 20% are Biblical. Copies of
every book in the Hebrew Bible have been found, except for Esther
(which, coincidentally, was the only book that didn't mention the name
of God). In Cave 4, one of the most complete manuscripts which they have
been able to reconstruct, is the First Book of Samuel, which was found
to contain passages not found in our Bible, and is being used to fill in
some of the narrative gaps. The non-Biblical fragments consists of hymns
and psalms, biblical commentaries, legal documents, a letter, apocryphal
writings, and an inventory of the Temple treasure. Of the non-Biblical,
there are texts referred to as sectarian writings, which were produced
by a unique sect of Jews who have been identified as the Essenes.
The seven intact scrolls that were found in Cave 1, were quickly
published by Israeli and American scholars, but the fragments collected
by de Vaux were a different story. Just in Cave 4, there was believed to
be well over 15,000 fragments (and perhaps as many as 100,000) from 500
different manuscripts. In all, the find was said to represent about 800
manuscripts. Of the Biblical writings, 25 copies of Deuteronomy were
found, 18 copies of Isaiah, and 27 copies of the Psalter. Among the
non-Biblical, 11 copies of the Community Rule, 9 Songs of the Sabbath
Sacrifice, 8 of the Thanksgiving Hymn, and 7 of the Sons of Light
Against the Sons of Darkness.
Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, the oldest known Old Testament
texts, were copies which dated back to 1100 AD, yet they were nearly
identical. Originally, only the linen surrounding the scrolls were
tested with the Carbon-14 dating process , which indicated a date around
the 2nd century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD. In 1991, new
tests by a Swiss laboratory confirmed these results. A palaeographical
analysis was done on the script used in writing the texts which revealed
a similarity to styles that were used from 250 - 150 BC, 150 - 30 BC,
and 30 BC - 70 AD. Archaeological dating was also done with the help of
several hundred coins which were found in the Qumran complex. The
earliest structures were built between 130 - 110 BC, then rebuilt and
enlarged from 110- 40 BC. They discovered evidence of an earthquake
which had been recorded as occurring in 31 BC, after which they rebuilt
the settlement and occupied it until 68 AD when it was destroyed by
Vespasian's Roman legions.
During the Maccabean period, in the 2nd century BC, there were three
main Jewish groups, the Pharisees, the Sadduccees, and the Essenes. The
Essenes were known to be the "strict" Order. Early historians, such as
Pliny the Elder (the 1st century Roman writer), Josephus, and Philo,
indicated that the Essenes lived in the area between Jericho and Ein
Gedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea, which is where the Qumran ruins are
located.
The Sadducees, whose religious principles differed from the Pharisees,
separated from them after the Maccabean revolt (168-164 BC). A document
identified as Miqsat Ma'aseh he-Torah, or "Some Rulings Pertaining to
the Torah"(also known as the Halakhic Letter), which was found in Cave
4, contains about 22 religious laws, and appears to be the basis of the
Qumran philosophy. Discovered in 1952, its contents weren't revealed
until 1984, and it has lead some researchers to believe that the Qumran
group seceded from the established religious center in Jerusalem, and
became the group known as the Essenes. Yet the Essene name is never used.
How this break occurred is not really known. According to one theory,
when Judea, under Judas Maccabeus, revolted in 165 BC against the Syrian
tyrant King Antiochus IV, thus beginning the Hasmonean line of Kings
with Judas (165-160 BC), his brother Jonathan (160-143 BC), then his
brother Simon (143-134 BC), maintained a friendly relationship with
Rome; and in 152 BC when Jonathan made himself the High Priest, this
upset the hardline Jews who chose to follow a man they referred to as
the "Teacher of Righteousness," who was of the Zadokite (who were
descendants of the priestly line of Aaron) line. They went to the desert
where they could observe the laws of God.
A document found at Qumran was an earlier version of the Damascus
Document, which was discovered (2 copies) in a Cairo synagogue in 1896.
Dated between 80 - 75 BC, a copy was found in Cave 6, and 7 copies in
Cave 4. The fragments recovered at Qumran have proven the Cairo text to
be incomplete. The text refers to a contingent of Jews that remained
faithful to the Law. A 'Teacher of Righteousness' came to them, and led
them into Damascus so they could renew their 'Covenant' with God. This
Covenant is referred to in the Community Rule. It is believed that there
was an Essene community in Damascus. In the book of the Acts of the
Apostles, Saul was going to Damascus to persecute these early Christians.
Another theory says that after the destruction of the First Temple in
586 BC, when the Jews were exiled to Babylon, the Essenes were formed as
a strict Order because they believed they were being punished by God for
their disobedience. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the
Maccabean victories, they became disenchanted and went to Qumran.
It was believed that the Essenes were a pacifist, monastic Order who
wanted to separate themseIves from the revolutionary-minded Zealots, yet
some of the evidence seems to indicate otherwise. Originally thought to
have been celibate, the graves of two women and a child were discovered;
plus the Community Rule contained marriage laws. The Essenes did not
engage in animal sacrifice, yet the Temple Scroll contains instructions
for such rituals, and animal bones have been found. Thought to have been
peaceful, their scrolls seem to indicate the knowledge of military
strategy; and the ruins of a military defense tower and a forge have
been excavated. Several manuscripts from Qumran, were also found at the
Zealot stronghold on Masada, and there has been some researchers who
believe that there was a connection between the two groups.
While de Vaux and his team were trying to distance the Scrolls from
Judaism and Christianity, saying there were no connections, the texts
which were already published seem to indicate otherwise. Either the
early Christians were just living at the Qumran community, or the early
Christians and the Qumran community were one, and the same. Though
Essene in nature, the group in Qumran has been compared to the early
Church, which was based in Jerusalem. The Habakkuk Commentary said that
Qumran's governing body, the Council of the Community, was in Jerusalem.
In fact, it is believed that the scrolls were taken to Qumran from
Jerusalem for protection. Professor Norman Golb of the University of
Chicago has theorized that the Scrolls were from the library of the
Jewish Temple, and taken to Qumran, a military installation, during the
first Jewish revolt to keep them safe. The vital link for this belief
comes from the Copper scroll, which lists 64/ /locations of hidden
Temple treasure. This seems to indicate that perhaps the Qumran
settlement was a retreat for the early Christians. But wait,
"Christians" before Christ? This is one of the controversial
developments that has emerged from the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The New Testament was written in Greek, and Jesus spoke in Aramaic. The
Qumran texts are written in Hebrew, and sometimes Aramaic, and has been
shown to contain information that is echoed in the New Testament. Prior
to the discovery of the Scrolls, the teachings of Jesus had been
considered as original, though influenced by Old Testament teaching.
However, the Qumran documents now indicate the existence of a basis for
his message. The Community Rule, which was discovered in Cave 1, has
proven to be one of the most important discoveries in Qumran. It is a
record of the rules and regulations of the Qumran community, where all
must make a "Covenant before God to obey all his commandments." One of
the basic tenets of Christianity, the baptism of purification, is
discussed. It says that the convert "shall be cleansed from all his sins
by the spirit of holiness uniting him to its truth...And when his flesh
is sprinkled with purifying water and sanctified by cleansing water, it
shall be made clean by the humble submission of his soul to all the
precepts of God." This has led to the theory that John the Baptist had
lived at Qumran until he was called by God to be the forerunner of Jesus.
In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:44-46), it says: "And all that
believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had
need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple..." This
shows that common ownership was part of the early Christian philosophy.
The Community Rule stated: "All...shall bring all their knowledge,
powers and possessions into the Community..."; "They shall eat in common
and pray in common..."; and "...his property shall be merged and he
shall offer his counsel and judgment to the Community."
Also in Acts, the Church leadership is shown to be made up of twelve
Apostles, which according to Galatians, were led by James (the brother
of Jesus), John and Peter. In the Community Rule, the Qumran group were
governed by a 'Council' of twelve people, with three priests that were
in leadership roles, though it is not known if they were part of the
twelve.
It also talks about a 'Meal of the Congregation' which is a ritual very
much like the 'Last Supper' and the subsequent communion ceremony; while
other documents contain parallels with the Sermon on the Mount, and the
concept of the battle between the darkness and the light.
The Qumran texts contain references to a messianic figure known as the
"Teacher of Righteousness," which some have tried to identify as being
Jesus, however, there are no references as to the divinity of this
person, so it couldn't be Jesus. In addition, because of the age of the
document, this person would have been living well before the time of
Christ. However, recently released fragments do elude to Jesus. An
unpublished Aramaic scroll fragment out of Cave 4, mention the "Son of
God" and the "Son of the Most High," in a similar manner as Luke 1:32,
35. It is the first time these references have appeared in any outside
text. Newly released fragments out of Cave 4 even prophecy the coming
the coming of Jesus, as the Messiah. Fragment 4Q285 said that "A staff
shall rise from the root of Jesse...the Branch of David...and they will
put to death the Leader of the Community."; and fragment 4Q521 said:
"The Heavens and the earth will obey his Messiah...He will not turn
aside from the Commandments of the Holy Ones...For the Lord will visit
the Pious Ones and the Righteous will call by name...He shall release
the captives, make the blind to see, raise up the downtrodden...He will
heal the sick, resurrect the dead, and to the Meek announce glad tidings."
Much has been made about this small group of men, who for forty years
had been silent about the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls which were in
their possession. As emissaries of the Catholic Church, was it because
the Scrolls are contrary to the Bible in respect to the origin of
Christianity, or was it, as some maintain, because of the power it gave
them. I think it may have more to do with the implications concerning
Christianity.
As we discussed in the previous section, those who have tried to prove
that Jesus faked his crucifixion, have also tried to link him with the
Essenes. Even though the Scrolls themselves indicate that the
inhabitants of Qumran engaged in the study of astrology and mysticism,
this group has been identified as the starting point for the philosophy
which became Christianity. If we are to believe the Scrolls, the
teachings of Jesus were based on the philosophy of the Essenes. This
seriously damages His image as being the father of a Religion that bears
His name. Not only that, but it further diminishes his divinity, which
has increasingly come under attack.
During the next few years, the last remnants of the Scrolls will be
published, and in the near future, new versions of the Bible may be
produced which will reflect the "new" information gleaned from the
Scrolls. These new versions may further contribute to the taking of
Christ out of Christianity, so that the role of Jesus is reduced to that
of a political visionary.
Since I believe that Jesus taught only what was given unto Him through
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what legitimacy should be given to
the Dead Sea Scrolls, if any.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, they are legitimate documents, and not the
result of an incredible forgery, as far as being done shortly before
their discovery. Therefore, we have to look in another direction. Now
that other scholars have access to them, any incorrect translations
would be revised. Which brings us to the reconstruction of the fragments
themselves. We have been forced to rely on the accuracy of de Vaux's
team, and their ability to fit these pieces together into some sort of
coherency. It would seem that gaps in the assembled fragments of text,
would make it difficult to actually grasp its full meaning, especially
since missing words may have a bearing on how other words are
translated. The complex techniques utilized in this process have brought
very little criticism in regard to its accuracy.
So that leaves us with only one other point of contention. Can we trust
the procedure used the date the Scrolls. Carbon-14 dating has long been
criticized as being inaccurate. Originally only the wrapping around them
were tested, because they didn't want to destroy any text in order to
date them. However, new techniques need less material to achieve the
same results. But remember, what is being dated is the material that was
written on. If a fragment was dated back to 200 BC, there is no way of
knowing whether it was actually written on at that time, or maybe 300
years later. This knowledge makes it difficult to assume the accuracy of
any dating.
We must also take into account, whether or not a document is describing
actual events, or if it is just plain fiction. For example, it is
commonly accepted that some apocryphal books such as Tobit, and Bel and
the Dragon were works of fiction, and for that reason were not included
in the Bible. Many apocryphal writings were found at Qumran. When it
comes to analyzing the contents of a text, how do you decide that it is
a historically accurate document, if you don't know the intention of the
writer, or even who the writer was. Just as the writers of the Gospels
have been accused of embellishment, do some of the Qumran texts contain
the same sort of embellishments.
Because of the secrecy surrounding the Scrolls, how will we really know
that all of the fragments found, will be released. It was said that some
fragments had been taken to the Ecole Biblique. Were they ever returned
to the Rockefeller Museum. I guess, what I am thinking here, is that if
they had discovered something that would have shaken the very foundation
of the Christian Church, would the Scroll team have allowed it to
remain, or would it have found its way into the dark recesses of the
Vatican, never again to see the light of day, or perhaps only locked
away for a short time, to be released when the time is right.
Or how about the existence of other scrolls that haven't made its way
into official hands. Strugnell revealed the existence of four other
scrolls from Cave 11. Of the two he saw, one was a complete copy of the
Book of Enoch. On his deathbed, Lankester Harding, the director of
Jordan's Department of Antiquities, claimed to have seen two more
scrolls that Strugnell had not seen. All four are located in Jordan.
Stories have also circulated about Bedouin discoveries which were not
given to de Vaux, and have yet to surface.
It seems that the world hasn't heard the last of Qumran, because
archaeologists Dr. Gary Collett and Dr. Aubry L. Richardson, using
sophisticated equipment developed by NASA (which can sense nonvisible
elements of the electromagnetic spectrum and interpret the type of
molecules found in its makeup), claim that there are still unexplored
caves there, including one which may contain up to 40/ /intact jars, of
the kind used to store manuscripts, and evidence of another copper
scroll. A dig was initiated, sanctioned by the Israeli government, to
reach this cave, which have not, as yet, turned up anything.
My feeling is, that we haven't been able to produce enough
substantiation from the Scrolls to make the kind of claims that have
been made. For example, various books in the Bible contain the same
information, and are used to cross reference each other. That wasn't
possible with the Scrolls, and because of that, they may never be fully
accepted. The fact that some of their rituals are similar to the early
Christian Church, may be nothing more than natural progression- or
theological evolution.
Because of further archaeological excavation, we may continue to get a
steady flow of information from Qumran for years to come, and how it
will affect the perception of Christianity is yet to be seen. All we can
do, is to evaluate what is available now, and how some of the
questionable texts may be use to manipulate religion in this country.
It would be nice to know how much influence the Rockefeller family has
on the Rockefeller Museum, where all the fragments were housed. Their
name also figures prominently in the talk concerning the rebuilding of
the Jewish Temple. Knowing that they have had a huge role in
establishing the New World Order, their involvement in the various
affairs of Israel has ominous overtones.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"A new partnership of nations has begun. We stand today at a unique
and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave
as it is, offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic
period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth
objective - a New World Order - can emerge...When we are successful,
and we will be, we have a real chance at this New World Order,
an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping
role to fulfill the promise and vision of the United Nations' founders."
--- George Bush
September 11, 1990 televised address to a joint session of Congress